* A quick trip to see my pal Marcus, who will be this side of the pond for a bit, to hang and open a show at the gallery where I used to work back in the day.

** Another quick trip, this time to attend my 21-year high school reunion. It says something about my class, no doubt, that we couldn’t get it together to have a 20-year reunion — but of course I’m not one of those people trying to figure out where on earth everybody went, and how to persuade them to come back. A job I don’t envy.

*** This one’s for a workshop that I’m hoping to attend. Alas, my attendance will depend on the cooperation of Continental Airlines, with whom I already have a ticket leaving for Rome on the 15th from the west coast. I’m hoping to wrangle a small change (and then convince the workshop organizers to cover it).

**** A significant-birthday present for my mother, from me and my sister. Our stepfather is coming, too. I spent a summer in Italy right after I graduated from college, seventeen years ago, and haven’t been back since; this one ought to be great.

***** There is the possibility of one more big August trip, but this one has not been finalized yet…